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An artist's impression of what the Makhado Crossing will look like after being expanded into a regional mall. Graphic supplied.

Sport clubs submit an alternative proposal

Date: 13 February 2016 By: Isabel Venter

Objections from the community did not have any effect on the Makhado Municipality’s plans for the expansion and further development of the Makhado Crossing.

This became evident during the meeting held on Monday between the municipality’s town-planning and development committee and affected sports clubs who will have to move from their current premises to make way for the development.

Council members made it clear that the development of the Makhado Crossing into a regional mall was a high priority for them, and that it was now just a matter of rushing through the administration thereof. The municipality’s director for development planning, Cllr Dakalo Sinthumule, however, did accept an alternative proposal from the various sport clubs that suggests another site for the relocation of the town’s current sports facilities.  

The clubs asked the municipality to consider relocating the squash and gymnastics facilities (which will also host the wrestling and badminton clubs) to the area next to the municipal swimming pool, on the corner of Anderson and Breda Street. The management of the Louis Trichardt Rugby Club indicated that they would settle for a new rugby field next to the municipal show grounds if they could not be accommodated at the fields next to the swimming pool or reach an agreement with Louis Trichardt High School to use their fields.

Sinthumule indicated that, in terms of the Makhado Local Spatial Development Framework (LSDF), the area east of the show grounds (along the Thohoyandou road) had been identified by the municipality for the relocation of the clubs. She said that the new proposal by the clubs would be submitted to Council’s land tribunal for consideration. This proses can take several months to finalize, which probably means that the proposed date of September this year to break ground on the development will not materialise. During a previous stakeholders meeting, the Masingita Group of Companies confidently said that they expected to start with the development of the mall at that time.

Lots of water has still to flow under the bridge, as the club representatives realized during Monday’s meeting. For one thing, Sinthumule confirmed that Council has yet to appoint a professional valuer to have the property valued where the current sporting facilities are situated. This will, in turn, determine the selling price of the property. The funds gained from the sale will be utilized by the municipality to construct new infrastructure for all the various sports clubs.

 

 
 
 

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Isabel Venter

Isabel joined the Zoutpansberger and Limpopo Mirror in 2009 as a reporter. She holds a BA Degree in Communication Sciences from the University of South Africa. Her beat is mainly crime and court reporting.

 
 

More photos... 

A map, submitted by Louis Trichardt's various sport clubs, indicating an alternative proposal for the relocation and incoporation of the current sporting facilities into the municipal swimming pool's property on the corner of Breda and Anderson Street. Graphic: Osglo Architectonics.

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